Review: Nervous System and Psychological Science Essay

Submitted By kyoungers
Words: 459
Pages: 2

The Science of Psychology

* What is psychological science? the study of the mind, behavior, brain, combines multiple components

* What is critical thinking and how is it related to psychological science? systematically evaluating information to reach reasonable conclusions. you can use it in psychological science, come up with a conclusion within study

* Goals of psychology

* description: observing behavior

* what is going on?

* explanation: cause of behavior

* what is something going on?

* Prediction: certain conditions relating to a later outcome

* predict outcomes * different circumstances * what will likely happen next?

* control:(influence) intervention

* can we get people to change their behaviors/ habits?

* Foundations of psychology

* what are some important debates in the philosophical roots?

* nature/nurture: environment or biological( born with it) * mind/body complex: “dualism”->intertwined but separate * Structuralism: conscious experience can be broken down into component parts * Experimental

* Philosophy-> science

* Wundt: introspection * have to be systematic * what is going on * evaluation

* Functionalism: how interactions work together * Gestalt: the whole is not the sum of its parts

* notion that perception is subjective and dependent on context * background knowledge and feeling play into perception

* Contemporary foundations

* identify the school of thoughts and their perspective on how to approach psychological science * what historical events/ context lead to the rise to some of these approaches

* Freud: emphasis on the unconscious

* psychoanalysis-> therapist/ client as a team * ideas were mostly untestable

* behaviorism: (watson and skinner)

* observable environmental effects on behavior * behaviors are repeated through consequences that followed the behavior * classical and operant conditioning->punishment and reward mentality

* cognitive approaches: emphasis on function

* how you feel about it * came about in part because of increase use of computer

* brain is like hardware

* thoughts/ feelings

* Levels of analysis

* Biological: area of brain,